1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an image forming device, an image forming system, an image forming method, an image forming control program, and a computer readable recording medium in which the image forming control program is recorded for forming an image formed from image data transferred from a portable image data storage device via an external interface connectable with said image data storage device.
2. Description of the Related Art
In printing image data obtained by means of a digital camera, it is possible to transfer image data from a PC (personal computer) to a printer for printing after taking the image data from the digital camera into the PC. However, this method cannot be used by a user who doesn't own a PC and the operation is complicated. As a means of solving this problem, a technology has been disclosed to connect a digital camera directly to a printer without going through a PC (Unexamined Publication No. JP-A-2003-276283).
Unexamined Publication No. JP-A-2003-276283 also discloses, as the methods of connecting the digital camera to the printer, a method of using a cable and a method of using a wireless communication interface.
However, although a plurality of methods is presented for directly connecting an image data storage device such as a digital camera to a printer, a user can only recognize that there is a plurality of external interfaces. In other words, no information is provided for the user to select an appropriate one from a plurality of external interfaces, thus causing a problem that the user cannot select and use an appropriate one form the available external interfaces according to time and circumstances.
On the other hand, several technologies are disclosed for calculating the printer's printing completion time in advance (Unexamined Publications No. JP-A-11-134119, No. JP-A-09-309232, and No. JP-A-06-075718). However, these technologies are not the technologies for connecting a digital camera directly to a printer for printing process, and have no considerations for the difference in the transfer speed of image data depending on the type of the external interface. Therefore, the technologies disclosed by Unexamined Publications No. JP-A-11-134119, No. JP-A-09-309232, and No. JP-A-06-075718 do not provide sufficient information for the user to select an appropriate one from a plurality of external interfaces connectable with the digital camera.